I like to take lots and lots of numbers and turn them into proprietary concepts and multi-platform content. Three of my longstanding publishing creations: the valuations of sports teams, ranking actors and movie studios on bang for the buck (ROI) and the Forbes Fab 40 (the most valuable sports brands). My most recent idea was Names You Need To Know, which broadened my concept of list creation to include direct input from our audience. I also like to take apart corporate balance sheets to measure earnings quality and have a passion for economics (my MBA thesis at Long Island University was an empirical study on the cause of inflation in which regression analysis showed a significant correlation between the general level of prices and the money supply). Besides being an Executive Editor at Forbes I also have a gig as co-host and Managing Editor of the 3-time New York Emmy award winning Forbes SportsMoney on the YES Network and Fox Sports 1 with my buddies at YES, co-host Bob Lorenz and producer David Alfreds, both of whom have taught me a tremendous amount. I also regularly appear on Fox and CNBC to chat about the business, political and sports issues of the day. My brother in arms is Kurt Badenhausen, whom I have worked with for many years and knows more about sports numbers than anyone.

LA Galaxy football star David Beckham eyes the ball during the warming up session prior to an exhibition match against the Indonesia Selection team in Jakarta on November 30, 2011. David Beckham led LA Galaxy to a 1-0 win over the Indonesian All Stars on November 30, in a scarcely filled Jakarta stadium (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife).

As part of his deal with MLS when he played for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Beckham was given the right to buy an MLS expansion team for $25 million. The league has confirmed that Beckham has been having discussions with MLS recently about doing just that. Grabbing an MLS team for $25 million would be a huge windfall for the 38-year old Beckham.

As the table of MLS expansion fees below illustrates, that was a reasonable price six years ago. But MLS team values have increased at an 18% compound annual rate since 1995. Sure, the $100 million figure is inflated in the sense that New York is the biggest market and Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour will also be leveraging his English soccer team’s brand in the Big AppleApple. And the Yankees, via their ownership in stadium operator Legends Hospitality, will get additional value from being an investor in New York FC.

But even a $70 million fair market valuation for Beckham’s expansion team would be a handsome reward for all he did for MLS.

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